Time is Everything
by nc99
Summary: When Death Eaters attack Hogwarts, Ginny is left alone in the castle with only her worst enemy for company. DG
1. Is there anybody there?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

Summary: Set after Order of the Phoenix, a Draco/Ginny fanfiction, but hopefully with a story in there too. Please review and I will try to write the next chapter soon. If you have any suggestions they would be welcome.

**Is there anyone there?**

"Harry, you cannot be serious!" Ron groaned across the room full with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Harry had just announced that they would be having a practice at 6 00 the next morning.

"Ron, tommorow's is THE most important match of the season, how many times do I have to tell you. Its only for half an hour, and we're just going to have one last practice at the Hassler arrangement, before Slytherin have theirs. It's our biggest attack plan yet."

"Harry, we've been over that thousands of times already. I get it." Tamara said in vain. There were mumbles of agreement.

"I know, but I've decided. See you all at six tomorrow. And Good Luck." Everyone began shuffling out of the changing room to go to supper.

Later that day

Ginny waved Hermione out of the library, "I'll be along in a moment, I'm just going to finish researching sleeping enchantments for my charms homework."

It was ten thirty in the evening, and Ginny's eyes were getting tired from hours staring at textbooks. Hermione had practically forced her in there, with the knowledge that she had her OWL's in just 6 weeks time, and really ought to start revising. That was one of the payments for being one of Hermione's best friends. She knew she ought to have had an early night before the Gryffindor-Slytherin match tomorrow, but somehow never quite got round to it.

"Everyone out of the Library and back to your dormitories, its bedtime," came Mrs Pince's magnified voice from somewhere above her head. There was a general rustling as the dedicated few who remained packed away their things.

She sighed as she scanned the shelves for _Enchantments of the Mind._ _It must be here somewhere_, she thought irritatedly. She glanced upwards, there it was, right on the top shelf, just above her reach. _Typical_. She bent her legs and jumped a few inches off the ground, just far enough to grab the book off the shelf. She landed with a gentle thud which echoed around the empty room.

_People left fast_, she thought briefly, and quickly piled all her things into her bookbag and hurried out of the library before Mrs. Pince came around.

She walked wearily down the corridors to Gryffindor tower_. It must be later than I thought._ She looked around the lit, but empty corridors and continued at a speeded up pace. She got to the Gryffindor tower to find the Fat Lady nowhere in sight. _Great, now I'm stuck out here._ She tried peering around the paintings along the walls to find them all empty. _That's odd_. Dismissing it as being some kind of portrait gathering tonight, she resorted to rapping firmly on the Common Room painting, hoping that at least if no-one heard her, the Fat Lady would come back in a temper.

Nothing happened, she tried knocking louder, only to find that the painting moved slightly to the side as her hand brushed it. She pushed it fully open. The portrait was unlocked. Beginning to feel the threads of worry settle in her stomach she warily climbed inside.

There was no-one there. At this time of night there were usually a few people still around, dozing by the fire or frantically finishing their prep.

She ran to the girls staircase and up to her dormitory. Deserted.

"Hello?" She called. "Elizabeth?" There was no answer.

She ran back into the common room and opened the door to the boys staircase.

"Is there anyone there?" She shouted. She heard an empty echoing against the stone. She racked her brain to see if there was some meeting or some school event she had forgotten.

Finally deciding to go back out and look in the great hall, she climbed back out of the portrait hole and headed downstairs to the Great Hall and looked inside.

The place was completely deserted.

Panic spread across her in a wave. Where had everyone gone? She was sure tonight was just a normal school night. There was something terribly wrong. She went to a window and looked outside across the Quidditch pitches, but it was all dark.

She could feel her heart beating at an accelerated rate and even hear her shallow breath in the silence that echoed throughout the castle hallways. Desperate to fill it she yelled out.

"Can anybody hear me? Hello?" But of course there was no answer. She turned, now in a blind panic, when hands roughly grabbed her and pulled her into the shadow behind a coat of arms.

She tried to scream but one hand was covering her mouth, the other clamped tightly around her waist. She could feel someone's hard, muscled chest on her back.

"Shut up Weasley, there's people coming. And trust me, you don't want them to see you." A voice drawled softly in her ear, and did nothing to ease her terror. Draco Malfoy was the last person she had wanted to come across.

A/N I know its short, and the story hasn't quite started yet, but review anyway. I do intend to finish it, as I have it planned out in my head, but it might take a while.


	2. Alone with a Malfoy

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

Alone with a Malfoy

Draco cautiously lifted his hand from over Ginny's mouth, and was relieved to find she was not stupid enough to scream. He could feel her taut muscles, wondering briefly how she didn't crack. He released his hold on her and they stood silently in the shadows, tension thickening the air. He could feel one of the soft, wayward curls of her hair brushing his neck, and was grateful that Malfoy's were not ticklish.

After a few seconds voices started to filter out across the corridor, gradually getting louder, and footsteps rang out filling the silence.

"I see your charm worked a miracle Knott. Hogwarts is as empty as Spirocrick's horn. A much more pleasant place than I remember, without the gibbering mass of teenagers." It was a woman's voice, soft and silky, with an air of importance.

"I should hope so too, that spell cost us a bomb. I hope it goes to good use. You wouldn't like to enlighten me on that would you?" A deep voice replied.

The woman chuckled, without humour.

"You know that's between myself, Lucius and the Lord. You will all find out when the master…" Her voice faded as they had rounded the corner of the passageway going down into the Dungeons.

Neither Ginny nor Draco moved for a few minutes, taking in what they had just heard and waiting to check no-one else was coming.

At the same moment they let out their breath and crept out from behind the coat of arms into the seemingly bright torchlight.

Ginny regarded Draco coldly and suspiciously.

"Would you like to tell me where everyone has gone?" She said, hoping her voice came out confident, trying to cover her inner terror.

"I think the more important question here is why are we still here?" His voice drawled, and he looked at her with a vague, uninterested appraisal.

"So, you don't know, is what you're trying to say."

"Actually, I do. They have put the school under a time stopping charm. I read about them once. They're illegal, and when the charm is lifted, nobody is aware of what has happened and they just continue with whatever they were doing." He finished his speech and peered intently outside the nearest window. "Anyway, it is nice talking to you Weasley, but I have more pressing matters at hand."

He strode off purposely towards the front door.

Ginny looked around, sighed then followed him, hating that she did not know what else to do.

"I do not need company Weasley." Draco said without turning around. Ginny wondered how he knew she was there.

"I don't care. I have questions. How do I know you're not helping them? After all, why are you here? How do I know that you're _pressing matters_ don't include handing me over to your father like a good Death Eater's son."

Draco stopped short, and turned around looking at Ginny properly for the first time, his grey eyes ablaze.

"Don't make assumptions you know nothing about, Weasley. I am nothing like my father. You're all the same, bloody redheads. Go back to your burrow where you belong." He turned then, to walk away.

Ginny tried, she really tried, not to get wound up by an impossible git like Malfoy, but something about him got to her. Self control all but evaporated.

"You think you're so bloody better than everyone else, Malfoy, you say you're nothing like your father. But actually you're just a clone. Making other peoples lives hell, just means that everyone hates you. Nobody would come looking for you if you died, except perhaps the next in line for your money. I may be in your eyes an insult to the word pureblood, but in fact I have more friends than you'll ever have. You insult me and my friends, because that's the only thing you have to do, and the only way to make yourself feel important, because in fact you are the most hateful bastard alive. You're pathetic."

Ginny finished, having let out everything she had built up over her five years at Hogwarts. Instead of making herself feel better however she just felt horribly guilty. She thought she might have seen a flicker of hurt pass across his face, but now it was emotionless, like a marble statue.

Draco just stood there, for the first time lost for words. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that. He was almost awed, and stared at her with a new found respect, and wondered how he should respond.

"Ouch." He simply said.

"Look Malfoy, I'm sorry… I didn't mean that." Ginny lowered her eyes, fiddling with her shaking hands, nerves pulled to breaking point. She half expected him to slap her or something, but he did nothing of the sort.

"No, you did mean it. And undoubtably you're completely justified. I'll argue later. But right now I'm going to see if we can get out of here. And now that you've got your little tirade out of your system, are you coming?"

Now it was Ginny's turn to stare at him in surprise. Had Draco Malfoy just ignored her outburst? Any guilt traces evaporated. _Arrogant git_.

She pushed past him, and opened the front door to a blast of cool air. The moon was bright, leaving eerie shadows across the Quidditch pitch. She shivered as she looked out to the Forbidden forest, and started heading down towards the gates to the school.

Draco followed closely behind, watching the moonlight casting flickers of light on Ginny's hair. He admired how collected she appeared, striding off across the lawn, seemingly not at all affected by the fact that Death Eaters were roaming the school, and that they were stuck in some time stop with no idea of when it would end.

The fact his father was probably among them filled him with an invisible dread. He had practically disowned him when he finally realized that Draco was not going to fight with Lord Voldemort. What would his father think of him now, roaming the grounds with a Weasley no less?

Ginny had almost reached the gate, close to tears. _Just my luck to get caught up in this. With Malfoy too. Why couldn't it have been Hermione or Harry, someone brave, who would know how to get out of this mess? _If she could just reach the gate, then she could get hold of her father, or the ministry.

About a metre from the gate, she was struck by an invisible, cold wall. Her lungs tightened, and pressure blasted into her head. _I can't breathe_. She began to back away as her vision narrowed and black dots danced across her eyes. Finally, everything went black, and she fell backwards onto the grass, hoping that the last person she would ever see would not remain Malfoy.

A/N That's it for this one. Read and review.


	3. A first time for everything

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

A first time for everything

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up." Draco looked down at her pale, face with the shock of red hair behind it. She looked almost like a China doll, as delicate as one also.

Ginny rolled over on the grass, and groaned.

"Are you O.K?" Draco asked, well aware of how stupid that comment seemed.

"Eugh, do I look O.K? I feel sick." Draco quickly removed his hand from Ginny's arm. "Why do you care, anyway? You hate me."

"I don't hate you. Besides, what if we're the only people left on the planet? I need you to repopulate." A faint smirk crossed his mouth.

"Eugh," Ginny said again, "You're disgusting."

"I probably should have told you what happens when you get to the border of a time stop." Ginny turned to look at him, mutinous.

"I have a right mind to be sick on you. Another word Malfoy …" Ginny threatened.

"OK, OK." He put his hands up. "Anyway, I've had an idea. Where were you when you realized everyone had disappeared?"

"In the library."

"Oh." Draco looked thoughtful for a moment. Ginny could see the sharp contours of his face as he sat next to her on the grass.

"Er, why? Where were you?"

"Flying."

"Flying, at this time of night? Are you insane? Whatever for?"

Draco seemed faintly embarrassed, "Well, we do, er did, have an important match tomorrow. I needed to practice one last thing."

"You boys are all the same. Obsessed. Harry'll love this. You know, he doesn't even eat before the matches."

"Well, that would be because I hex him beforehand to make him not hungry. Always easier to have a weaker opponent."

Ginny was horrified. "What?" she spluttered, then caught sight of the slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. "Clearly you want to be attacked Malfoy."

"Well, I have always wanted to be mauled by a girl." He stood up and reached a hand down to help Ginny up. She took it and smoothed out her robes.

A thought struck her suddenly. "Actually I was in the air. I had jumped up to grab a book from the top shelf."

"You must have to be touching the ground then for a time stop to work. It must be awful being short. Not only do you not reach books, but you run the risk of being left out of a time stop."

"Yes, it's always been my biggest concern." Ginny said sarcastically, mildly offended at being called short. Not that it was his most offensive insult ever.

They had reached the castle door. They exchanged a brief look, and Ginny took a deep breath as Draco slowly pushed open the door and stuck his head round.

"It's OK. Its empty." Ginny, relieved, followed Draco through. They stood uncertainly in the hallway. Ginny glanced at her watch to see it was midnight already. Her eyes felt heavy and her bones ached.

"I'm tired, I think I'll go back to the dormitories and get some sleep." Goodness knows what would be in store for tomorrow.

"Good idea." Draco replied, glancing around to check nobody was coming.

She headed towards the staircase and noticed that Draco was following her.

"Er Malfoy, Sytherin's thataway." She said pointing in the opposite direction.

He looked up at her, "I know, I was just coming with you to your common room to make sure you weren't attacked." He said this without blinking, or without a trace of embarrassment. Ginny didn't know what to say, _I never knew Malfoy could be such a gentleman._

"Oh, thanks." She said, hoping her cheeks weren't burning.

"Well, and I want to see if I can find Potter's invisibility cloak. It might come in useful tomorrow."

Ginny felt vaguely hurt, unsure why, fairly certain he had said what he had to goad her.

"Fine," she said abruptly and carried on up the stairs.

They reached to portrait hole, the Fat Lady not in sight, of course. She reached out and slid it open. Draco hesitated for a second, sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he would have to enter Gryffindor territory and no, it would not be unfaithful to his house. Besides, he was more than slightly curious to see what it would look like inside.

The walls were painted a nice golden yellow, the sofa's with red and orange cushions. The fire had burnt down to a dying red glow, sending a wash of crimson light over everything.

"I'll get the cloak in the morning, I have to convince myself first that I'm searching through Harry's things for a good cause." Ginny said quietly.

"I thought you would relish the opportunity," Draco said in return, reffering to her crush on Potter in her first year. Admittedly, she had been out with a few people, so was obviously over it, but he couldn't help himself.

"I'm glad my love life provides you with so much entertainment, but you can go now." Now it was Draco's turn to blush. Feeling slightly guilty, but not sure why, he pulled open the portrait door.

He was just stepping through when there was a distant crash sounded, followed by reams of wicked laughter and shouting that they could not quite make out.

Both of them jumped and Draco quickly retreated back inside and quietly let the portrait slide to a close.

"You might as well just sleep here on the sofa. Saves having to go all the way back through the school. Besides I think something's going on down there."

Draco looked around the room and made a face. Ginny sighed,

"Oh, grow up. Nobody's going to know you slept in Gryffindor. I think it's better than a possible fate worse than death if you venture outside. I'll get you a blanket from upstairs."

Draco turned to look at Ginny and smiled, a proper, real smile. He actually looked quite beautiful, she thought. _Stop that right now Ginny. Draco is horrible, Draco is horrible…_

"Thanks. If there are any hot water bottles and bed socks, they would be welcome too." He looked at her with an innocent, hopeful look. Well, as innocent as Draco's face could look.

"In your dreams Malfoy." Ginny said, and disappeared out of the room.

He looked down at the nearest sofa, facing away from the portrait hole, and set about puffing the cushions up until they looked satisfactory. He lay down on it, wrapping his arms around his cloak and shut his eyes. _Ginny isn't so bad._ He thought. _Very pretty... She doesn't go for guys like you, Draco. _He wondered what his father would think. Associating with Weasley's was definitely not something on his agenda.

The door creaked open and Ginny came in with a couple of blankets and some pillows. She handed him the pillows, which he set about arranging behind his head, and she lay the blankets over him in a strangely motherly fashion.

"Good night Malfoy."

"Sleep well Weasley."

Ginny smiled as she walked for the final time that night up the staircase.

A/N Please review, with any ideas. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll try to update.


	4. I wish I never knew

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

A/N Things start to become clearer in this one. Thanks for the reviews.

I wish I never knew

Ginny opened the door to the common room to find Malfoy pacing back and forth next to his sofa. The blankets were folded neatly on it, so it looked as if nobody had ever slept on it.

"Is something bothering you?" Ginny began. He looked harassed and his silvery blond hair was not in its usual messy, but cool shape, but just messy.

"No, not especially. Oh, apart from the fact that the Death Eaters are planning some kind of serious attack at this very moment. And I haven't had breakfast. I'm always bothered before breakfast." He finished, and stopped pacing. "Sorry, I'm just hungry. Anyway, did you sleep OK?"

"Not really. I kept thinking Death Eaters were going to burst in at any moment. I got to sleep when I realized that you'd be got first."

A smile cracked on the corner of Draco's mouth. "I didn't either. Same reason as you I guess. I got to sleep when I realized that if Death Eaters did come in, I could tell them that Harry Potter was asleep in you're room, so you'd be got first."

Ginny actually laughed, for the first time in what felt like ages.

"I'll go and see if I can get the cloak. It's usually hidden under Harry's bed I think."

Draco raised an eyebrow at this, but refrained from saying anything.

"Too many midnight raids of the kitchens." Ginny clarified for him, and disappeared up into the boys staircase. Draco watched her go, with a feeling of impending doom. He felt like he'd just found what he'd been looking for all his life, but knew that as soon as time began again everything would be just like it was before.

Ginny came back down holding something silvery in her hands. She handed it to Draco, who looked at it wonderingly for a moment.

"I'm going the try and find out what the Death Eaters have planned." Draco stated.

"Well, if you think you're going alone, think again. I'm coming, and I don't care if you don't want me to, because this is as much my problem as yours." Ginny said firmly.

"Good, I want company." Draco said, and flashed her a sweet smile. Ginny reddened slightly.

"Sorry, too many times of being told I can't come on some adventure because I'm too young." Ginny clamped her mouth shut, now mortally embarrassed. Draco felt touched, like she'd told him something that she'd never said to anyone before.

"That's harsh. I don't have any brothers or sisters, so I don't really know what it's like to be left out of things. I suppose they think they're just protecting you, but you're not a child anymore. It would be insulting."

Ginny smiled. There was someone who actually understood her.

"Shall we go then?" Draco said. "You can show me the way to the kitchens. Useful knowledge for the future." He threw the cloak over them both. Ginny was painfully aware of how close they were standing, she could feel the warmth from Draco's body next to hers. She slid open the portrait and looked outside, it was empty for the moment. Draco followed her out, making sure that the cloak stayed over them both.

They walked the way to the kitchens in silence. Only the soft thudding of their shoes sounded in the silence. Once they got there, Draco pulled off the cloak and looked around awed.

The kitchens were huge, with half prepared food sitting over the table tops. He wondered if it would have gone off by the time time restarted, making a mental note to watch what he ate for breakfast when that happened.

"I hope the food doesn't age." Ginny voiced his thoughts. "Poor house elves, it would be quite a shock." Putting aside her guilty feelings, she opened a larder door and rooted around for some bread.

Draco found some pumpkin juice in the magically cooled fridge.

They swapped food, and put aside some cheese, bottles of Butterbeer, rolls and carrots for lunch in their robes.

"Butterbeer?" Ginny asked exasperated. Draco smiled,

"Well, it is the only thing that comes in bottles. And its refreshing. Sort of."

They stood in silence for a bit, eating their bread, each lost in thought.

"Do you think time will restart again tonight?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know. It will depend on what the Death Eaters are doing I suppose." Draco had nothing else to say and finished his bread.

"Lets go and find them then."

With the cloak back over them, and pockets full of food, they ventured out into the corridors.

"Dungeons first do you think?" Ginny whispered in Draco's ear. He merely nodded.

It didn't take long to find where the Death Eaters were working. In one of the Potions laboratories, voices were escaping through the open door. Draco and Ginny crept up to it, and flattened themselves against the wall next to the door and listened.

"This is a miracle. Who'd have thought Arthur Weasley and his stupid muggle technology displays would become useful. Perhaps not his intended use, but he'll become famous for evermore, just as he's always wanted."

Ginny tensed up next to Draco, alarm bells ringing in her head, and the sickening feeling of dread built up over her. She barely felt Draco's arm wrap around her waist to try and comfort her.

Deep laughter echoed around the room,

"He could get more money than in his wildest dreams to simply sell his story," the voice continued.

Draco stuck his head around the doorframe, hoping that the cloak really was invisible.

What he saw made him jump. His father was there, and Snape, with about three other Death Eaters. They were crowded around a central table with five objects taking shape. They were small, muggle made devices, of which Draco had never seen before. A grey haired man was fiddling about with a couple of wires attached to one of them.

"Boom, and the kids are gone." One of them said morbidly, and the others laughed.

"So, what do all these wires do Tenneson?" Snape said, suspiciously.

The gray haired man wiped some sweat from his forehead, "Lots of things," he said gruffly, still connecting up parts, concentrating furiously.

"How explanatory" Snape sneered.

"Severus, let him concentrate. Wouldn't like to think what'll happen if his hand slipped. All we need to know is that tomorrow, once you say the words, when Dumbledore's back and the children are all in bed, they'll never wake up. Isn't that right Tenneson?" Lucius questioned.

"Humph" He growled. "But I'm only building the bombs. Its up to you to charm them to ignite when the Lord wishes. No use without a spark, eh."

"Yes, yes. That will all be sorted. Bellatrix, you've always had a certain speciality with charms, I'd like you to make sure they can only be touched and sparked by the _right _people. And make sure they stay hidden."

"Of course Lucius."

"Good. Now, how much longer will this take? We're running out of time."

"'Bout 10 minutes sir." Tenesson muttered.

"Severus, Knott, make sure you're ready to plant these. One in every house, and of course, the most important, one in the old git's office. I want everything in order before sundown. They must be ready for tomorrow's return of Dumbledore."

They nodded, and Lucius sneered. "The wizarding world will be in shock, leaving the path clear for our master. We will be praised beyond all others." They all seemed to rub there hands in glee, figuratively speaking, dreaming of the power they'll have earnt in the future.

"And, when they find out Arthur Weasley was responsible for this, be it indirectly, he will be in Azkaban for the rest of his life. It never pays off to associate with muggles." They all grinned, watching the work of the Tennesson.

"Lucius, isn't my nephew, your son, going to be here when it happens. Don't you think you ought to take him out of school?" Bellatrix asked.

Ginny clasped Draco's hand that was around her waist, realizing disgustedly what the answer would be.

"No, he can die along with the rest. He is a traitor, no son of mine." Lucius replied ruthlessly.

Draco's heart went cold, horror taking over, finally realizing that his father really had never loved him.

A/N Again, please review. Just to say that I will not be able to update for a few days, but the next chapter, I think, should be a good one.


	5. Back to the Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

A/N Thanks for the reviews.

Back to the beginning

Draco had heard enough. He looked down and quickly removed his arm from around Ginny and lifted the invisibility cloak from over himself. He then turned and headed slowly towards the Slytherin common room, thoughts burning through his brain.

Anger seethed through Ginny's veins at how Lucius Malfoy could say something like that, about his own son. She didn't know what to do, simply followed Draco to Slytherin. She wanted to say something, anything, to comfort him, but didn't know what.

Slytherin common room was lit only by a few torches, and was draped with silver and green. It didn't look particularly homely, Ginny thought, it was a bit bare and, well, evil looking.

Draco went and sat down on one of the sofas, and leaned his head back against the cushions and shut his eyes.

Ginny sat down next to him, on the edge of the sofa, hoping that the Death Eaters wouldn't come in now to plant their bombs. She slid her eyes sideways to look at him, his pale face, framed with neat tendrils of silvery blond hair. He looked almost angelic, and so beautiful, but with a dangerous aura.

He opened one eye and looked at her, having felt her scrutiny. Ginny glanced away, hoping her face wasn't reddening too much.

"I'm really sorry Malfoy. Your father's a bastard." She said, with emotion, and without really thinking.

"I don't want your pity." He said bitterly. He shut his eye again, as if the sight of her pained him.

Ginny stood up, vaguely hurt, meaning to go to the door and look out to watch if people were coming, but Draco's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. She turned to look at him, surprised.

"Where are you going?" He said sharply, his eyes narrowed and he stood up. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

"I'm just going to keep a look out for the Death Eaters, _if you don't mind_." She said, trying not to sound too harsh. It was difficult with Malfoy sometimes.

"Oh, sorry." He said, seeming genuinely guilty, and his face lost it's anger, leaving a weary expression.

He looked so forlorn that Ginny couldn't help but reach out and put her arm on his.

"Look, Malfoy …" He cut her off by putting his fingers on her lips, and staring intently into her eyes. She didn't look away like most girls would have. But before she had the chance to find out what might have happened after that, many things happened at once.

There was a rustling at the door to the common room as somebody pushed away the portrait. Draco reacted very fast, and grabbed Ginny and pulled her down behind the sofa with him. They tumbled to the ground just as the door opened, Draco lying on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

Draco could feel Ginny's body pressed against his, her heart beating at an accelerated rate against his and her breath whispering against his neck, rustling his fine hair. In another situation it may have been quite pleasant, recalling that this was the second time he had ended up in a compromising position with her.

Foosteps sounded across the stone floor.

"Here looks a good spot." A Bellatrix's voice remarked, coming from next to the fireplace.

"It'll do fine." Snape replied. There was the sound of ripping tape, and some mutterings of spells.

"That'll stay hidden for a night and all you need to say is _Insendio_, which will detonate all of them." Bellatrix said with satisfaction.

"Good. And you're sure it'll still work when I'm down in the forest?"

"Yes, but make sure you're wand is pointing in the direction of the castle, and don't go too far in."

"Of course." Snape looked around, almost wistfully, then noticed an object on the sofa.

"An invisibility cloak." He said, on guard all of a sudden. "Only Potter owns one, and what is it doing here?" He began looking around the room, suspiciously.

"I don't know Severus, but there is nobody here. It's impossible. One of your pupils must have one." Snape was gradually working his way closer to Draco and Ginny, lying with bated breath in the shadows of the sofa.

Bellatrix had moved to the door.

"Come on Severus, we don't have time for this. Lucius wants it done before dark. You can check it out later and give detention to whoever needs it then." Snape was standing right next to Ginny and Draco's feet. Another second and he would look down and see them.

Ginny buried her face in Draco's robes, feeling his tense body on hers, and ignoring the uncomfortable aching in her back from lying against the cold stone floor and waiting for a an outcry of shock or a sneering comment.

Instead, Snape picked up the cloak and moved away.

"You're right. There's nobody in here. Let's go."

He cast one look back towards the sofa before turning, and leaving the room.

Ginny released a breath, and with it the tension filling the air. "That was way too close." She was acutely aware of Draco pressing down on her and she shifted, to move out from under him. He raised an eyebrow, and smirked at her uncomfort at being so close to him.

"Oh, get off me. I want to go and see what they've put over there." She said a bit too fast.

"You know you won't be able to see anything." He said, humour in his voice, making no effort to move away.

"But, you're squashing me," she said, with less conviction, "and …"

Draco leaned in and kissed her. His lips sent shivers down Ginny's spine and she responded by parting her lips and gently kissing him back, vaguely thinking about the strangeness of the situation.

As quickly as he had leaned in he pulled away and rolled off her, stood up and smoothed off his robes to look as graceful and well kempt as he always did.

Ginny was speechless for a moment, and took Draco's hand which he offered her to stand up.

"Bugger" he suddenly announced, with feeling.

"What?" Ginny said, having found her voice.

"He's taken the cloak."

"Oh, no. Harry's going to kill me."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the Death Eaters'll kill me when we try to walk down that corridor." His mouth quirked into a smile.

"Well, that as well." Ginny chewed her lips, staring at the empty spot on the sofa. She looked at her watch. 6.00. She calculated briefly. They had four and a bit hours until time started.

"I suppose it's no use trying to get rid of these things." Ginny said ponderingly looking over at the empty looking spot next to the fireplace.

"Er no. I dread to think what'd happen if the school blew up in a time stop. Not a pretty sight."

"How can you joke in a situation like this? What can we do?"

"I was thinking, sit and wait for the hour of doom. Usually works well for me." Ginny shot him a death stare.

"Feel free. But I'm going to leave a note in Dumbledore's office to warn him. And then we should watch Snape constantly, in case he leaves for the forest. Maybe we shouldn't let people in after Quidditch. But that depends on whether Dumbledore's back in time for the match. We could go to McGonnagal, she's deputy headmistress." Ginny would have continued in this manner for quite some time had Draco not interrupted her.

"And you think she'd believe us? _The school's going to be blown up, professor. Death Eaters were here all last night planting the bombs and Professor Snape's going to set them off as soon as Dumbledore returns. _I don't think so. She knows that Dumbledore trusts Snape."

"Well, do you have a better idea then?" Ginny said, glaring at him.

"Going after Snape now?"

"Yeah, because that's going to work. What? Two against ten. I'm sure." Ginny said sarcastically. "We'll have to wait until time has started again. There's nothing we can do now."

"Apart from sleep." Draco said, and sunk down onto the sofa again and shut his eyes.

Ginny sighed and sunk down next to him, resting her head against the arm rest, her mind still whirring about his kiss. Had it meant anything? _Do I care? _

Her thoughts gradually quieted, with the sounds of Draco's gentle breathing nearby and the restless night before eventually caught up with her and she fell asleep.

Draco opened his eyes, adjusting to the dim torchlight. He looked down to see Ginny's head resting peacefully against his shoulder. _She's so beautiful. _He thought, with her golden glinting red hair spilling over him, and his heart filled with sadness.

He looked down at her watch, which caught his eye glittering in the half light. _Shit_

He sprang into action, and put his hands gently on Ginny's shoulders,

"Ginny! Ginny wake up! It's 10.28."

A/N I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter. Anyway, please review on this one.


	6. Nothing's changed

A/N sorry its taken so long. I've been a bit busy. Thank you so much those of you who have reviewed. This is just REALLY short, to show I haven't forgotten about my story. I will continue ONCE I have more reviews.

Nothing's changed

Ginny threw herself off the sofa and scrambled to the door, shaking off any traces of sleep and trying not to think what would happen if all the Slytherin's suddenly reappeared.

She threw open the dungeon door, Draco following her.

"Look, you stay here, I'm going to get back to the library then go to …"

He never heard what she was going to do as a voice interrupted them from behind, which sent shivers down his spine.

"My, how sweet…Malfoy and Weasley. What a new development," Snape sneered.

Ginny and Draco whipped their wands out of their pockets in a lightening fast reaction, ready to blast Snape to oblivion while they had the chance. However, Snape was prepared, muttered _expelliarmus _and the wands flew into his hand.

"You're too late. Hmm, one minute and there will be nothing that you can do."

Draco stared at him with all the hate he could muster. "Give us our wands back, Professor, or my father will have something to say."

"I don't think so. Your father wouldn't want anything coming between him and his plan. He has no need for you." Draco didn't move an inch.

"I wouldn't be so sure. He's just seen me and would like me to watch the corridors tonight, to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens before tomorrow's … big bang." Draco said all this with such conviction that Snape seemed to sway uncertainly, not sure what to believe. He was thrown by how much the boy seemed to know.

Meanwhile Ginny had inched over to the side of the corridor and had picked up a large metal goblet with a gold serpent wound around the base.

"You are lying." Snape announced, glancing over at Ginny just as the heavy goblet sailed through the air towards him. He jumped to the side just as the goblet missed his head by inches and fell crashing to the floor.

At the same instant the castle seemed to come alive and voices rang out from not far away around the corner. Snape sprang into action,

"_Obliviate" _He shouted two violet streams of light hit Draco and Ginny in the chest before they could even react. They shook their heads and seemed to notice where they were for the first time and frowned.

"Go back to your dorms children as it is getting late. Ten points from Slytherin and Gryffindor and being out of bed at this hour." He sneered at them.

Ginny collected herself and turned to glare at Draco, her brain remembering how he had just tricked her into coming down here claiming he had just cursed Harry and left him here.

She turned to run to the staircase to go up to bed,

"Your wand Miss Weasley," Snape said, smirking, holding it out to her. "I don't want to see it out in the corridor again or I shall have to confiscate it." She took it and left for Gryffindor, her mind trying to sort out a cloud of confusion, but never quite managing to focus on her recent memorys.


	7. The Match

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

A/N Thanks you so much for the reviews, it's really encouraging and it definitely makes me write the next chapter faster. See, I got round to this one really quick.

The practice

Ginny opened her eyes to the searing sunlight shining through a gap in the curtains, and quickly shut them again and allowed her fuzzy brain to wake up.

She looked down at her watch. 5 55. She rolled over to go back to sleep before remembering. The match. The practice. Groaning, she crawled out of bed, feeling as though her head had been filled with thorns. She dressed quickly and quietly so as not to wake up her roommates, even though it was tempting. They didn't have to get up for a stupid Quidditch practice at 6 am.

She left the room, wondering drearily why her head ached. _Clearly should have gone to bed earlier last night and given up on the studying, _she realized grumpily.

In the common room Ron was waiting for her.

"Hurry up Gin, Harry's always in a bad mood before matches so we really don't want to be late." He looked very disheveled, but definitely awake, his hands wringing together with nerves.

"Whereishe?" She mumbled.

"What? Oh, Harry's already gone down. You know what he's like about Quidditch. Let's go." He dragged her through the common room to the portrait hole.

Early morning sunlight left long shadows across the pitch, and a group of very tired looking teenagers stood huddled in the centre, leaning on their brooms. Harry was talking animatedly in the centre.

Twenty minutes later, they were all in the air, feeling considerably more awake. Ginny breathed in the cool air and relished the wind whipping her hair into a stream of long curls behind her. They were all practicing a difficult team tactic designed to get the Quaffle from one end of the pitch to the other in such a complicated manner to confuse the opponent.

From below a shrill whistle rang through the air, stopping them all in mid air as they looked down to see what it was. Malfoy and his pack of Slytherins stood collected at the edge of the pitch with customary smirks on their faces.

"What idiot gave that boy a whistle?" Katie grumbled from next to Ginny. They all flew down and collected behind Harry.

"You're early Malfoy." Harry stated, glaring at him.

Draco pretended to look down and notice the time.

"Oh yes, so I am. Well, we'll just have to wait over here then, won't we." He said, indicating to the Quidditch stands.

"No, you won't." Harry said through gritted teeth. "You can go and wait inside for another ten minutes."

"I don't see why, it's such a lovely morning, we all want to admire the view. You can go and get McGonnagol if you like, but.." he broke off looking at his watch, "is it really worth it?"

At this Fred and George leapt forward, but were cut off by Harry.

"He's not worth it." Harry said. "Lets go." It was, after all, now 25 minutes past six. As they walked past, Ginny gave Malfoy a death stare, as did the rest of the team. He simply smiled wider as he watched them all leave.

"Can't you let me go and bash his pretty face in Harry? He deserves it." Ron pleaded as the left the pitch.

Harry simply gave him a look, which left Ron grumbling about how Harry was 'too soft' of something.

"Just make sure we win the game, that'll do the trick." Harry said.

Later

Breakfast was a subdued occasion as the tension built in preparation for the most important match of the season. Ginny glanced up at the staff table to see Dumbledore's chair empty and wondered if he'd be back in time for the match. She could still not shake the ache in her head left from the morning and was even more unsettled by noticing Snape staring straight at her. She quickly glanced away only to find her eyes rest at the table opposite and on Draco Malfoy.

Feelings of hatred immediately bubbled to the surface, but she was surprised to find that she almost pitied him. _Where did that come from?_ He was staring down at his plate like it was some sort of alien and she could see how nervous he was. He looked up and his features rearranged themselves into his usual twisted smirk. She glanced away, pity evaporating and continued on her conversation with Neville.

The match

The weather was still just as sunny at ten in the morning as the teams lined up at the side of the pitch. The stands were rapidly filling with people, and the team were all shifting nervously as they watched. Harry's pre-match talk was over, thankfully, and they were all waiting for the whistle to be blown by Madam Hooch.

"You know what just happened," Harry announced to her and Ron.

"What," She said wearily, expecting him to recall how he had just remembered some sort of Quidditch move from the World Cup or something. Ginny didn't think she could take any more.

"Professor Snape just came up to me, handed me my Invisibility cloak, and walked off." This caught her attention.

"There was definitely something going on. How did he have my cloak in the first place?"

"Dunno." Said Ron, not really in the mood for another of Snape's mysteries, and he looked up at the growing numbers of people in the stands and swallowed.

Ginny was rapidly thinking. She felt like she knew something of what had happened with Harry's invisibility cloak, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very flustered looking Hermione.

"Good, I'm so glad the match hasn't started yet." She said, "I've just been in the library, completely lost track of time." She explained.

She gave Harry and Ron a quick hug, both of whom turned slightly red. "Good Luck."

"Oh, Ginny, your robe's not quite done up properly," Hermione said, and reached to refasten the half undone clasp at Ginny's neck. She smiled, and gave her a quick hug also and disappeared off into the crown just as the whistle blew.

They walked to the centre of the enormous pitch, and Ginny felt her own nerves building, which she'd originally managed to keep at bay.

Harry and Draco forced themselves into such a brief handshake that if you blinked you'd have missed it. The wind had caught up a little, whipping Ginny's hair around so that she was grateful she'd remembered to tie it up.

As soon as the whistle blew any thoughts Ginny was still questioning about the invisibility cloak all but disappeared and she focused solely on getting the Quaffle. She dodged a few badly placed Bludgers to lunge for the Quaffle which Katie threw to her, and headed straight for the goal, blocked by the large form of Malcolm Baddock. She easily feigned a left turn, but nipped to the right at the last minute, not leaving Malcolm any time to change direction and shot the Quaffle through the right hand hoop.

The crowds erupted and a magnified voice shouted "Gryffindor takes the first score of the match…"

Ginny flew round seeing Fred and George do a quick loop the loop in celebration before focusing on aiming a bludger at Blaise Zabini.

About ten minutes later the score was 90 to 70, Gryffindor in the lead. Ginny was watching Ron in goal doing a brilliant job of stopping Pansy Parkinson from scoring when a flash of gold glinted in the corner of her eye. _The snitch_. Sure enough Harry and Draco neck and neck darted straight towards it and Ginny dodged out of their way just in time.

As Draco flew past, a looked of sheer determination on his face, huddled low over his firebolt, Ginny caught sight of his cloak clasp, which was a gold serpent twined around the silver catch.

Suddenly, memories flooded down into her brain. She'd seen the exact same design, of the serpent twined around the golden goblet she'd thrown at Snape. The timestop… Draco…the invisibility cloak…the bombs…Snape.

An incredibly loud cheer erupted suddenly from the stands, only just penetrating her furiously concentrating brain. Her eyes flicked to the stands where people were clapping and just beginning to filter out. The match had ended, Gryffindor had won. Her eyes scanned the stands and found Dumbledore immediately, but that was not who she was looking for. She whirled around to the Slytherin side of the pitch and to the taller box in the middle where the head of house normally sits. The seat was empty, Snape was gone.

In steely determination she raced towards Draco, with one thing on her mind. She had to make him remember. He was circling around in the air at the edge of the pitch, not far from where the other Sytherins had begun collecting, clearly in a sulk.

She caught up with him and stopped right in front of him.

"Come to gloat Weasley." He sneered, and she flinched at the tone he used in spitting out her name, remembering how nice he'd been to her only yesterday. She cut straight to it and spilled out anything she could think of.

"Draco, you must remember, please, there was a timestop yesterday, the Death Eaters, planting bombs in the school, it was only us there…" she looked at his face, staring in utter amazement, with an evil glint in his eye, but there was no recognition there, she carried on, "…Snape Obliviated us. We have to tell Dumbledore, you're father was there…" She was running out of ideas. He wasn't remembering. Her heart fell when she realized that something needed to trigger the memory, not words.

"Weasleys actually gone mad." He said momentarily stunned, "what a shocker, must be the poor bloodlines." Ginny felt tears prickle and the back of her eyes and blinked furiously, how could she ever have thought he was any better than an arrogant bastard. She had actually thought he might like her, possibly even love her.

The stands were emptying as the school returned to their respective common rooms, and Dumbledore was back and she realized that time was running out. An idea struck her, and not a nice one. Draco was still staring at her with an ugly sneer, _please let this work_, she thought furiously. She shut off the thoughts that this was utter suicide if it didn't work, and launched herself towards him, putting her lips to his in a desperate kiss.

A/N Wow, I've actually done this really quickly. Before anyone complains about the various Quidditch players I've mentioned in here, I couldn't be bothered to look up the actual team members so you'll just have to bear with it. I hope that wasn't an utter disaster chapter, as I don't have time to edit. I don't actually have very much idea of what is going to happen next, but I'm sure I'll come up with something! You know what to do if you want the next chapter faster, Review! It worked very well for this one. Lol.


	8. Evacuation and the Tent

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

A/N Thanks very much for the reviews. I'm afraid that there'll be no soppy 'I love you's' going on in this chapter. Sorry to disappoint!

Evacuation and the tent

For a moment it was almost a real kiss.

But only for a moment. Draco pulled back and gasped, Ginny now almost falling off her broom and she clung on to him to avoid plummeting to the ground. She stared straight into his eyes, desperate to see some sort of recognition.

For a horrible second she thought it hadn't worked, he had no memory, and she had no second plan.

He blinked, and stared at her, blinked again. She looked at him expectantly, momentarily forgetting how cruel he had been and actually was.

"It's OK, I remember." He said, still looking a bit bewildered.

Ginny felt relief coursing through her and she filed away the thought that kissing Draco had triggered his memory for later examination. She quickly pushed herself back from him to regain her balance on her broomstick.

"I just wanted to say that that didn't mean anything," she clarified, looking at him mutinously, ignoring how right it had felt kissing him.

He had the grace to look a little ashamed, remembering how he had treated her, then quickly covered it with his characteristic blank uninterest.

"It's OK, I didn't ever think it did. In fact, it saves me the trouble of dealing with yet another besotted girl."

Malfoy was back. Ginny shut her eyes for a second and composed herself choosing to remain silent and ignore his remark. They had to focus on the immediate problem. When she opened them again Draco was looking around, at the now empty Quidditch stands.

"Snape wasn't at the match." Ginny said sharply.

"To Dumbledore then." Suddenly, it seemed, Draco sprang into action, and aimed straight for a window on the ground floor at breakneck speed. She followed right behind, hoping that Draco had actually found the right window to aim at and ignored the hurt she felt beneath her outward indifference.

They got to the window a large bay one, similar many of the others on the ground floor. Draco reached forward and knocked loudly on the glass, three times.

He caught Ginny's eye, and looked away again, surprised at how much venom could be shown in a single look. Inside he was furious, at Ginny, for not understanding that it wasn't his fault he had been so cruel, it was just how he treated all people he didn't know, and furious also with himself for caring that he had hurt her feelings at all. Draco Malfoy never felt guilt.

_Hurry up old man_, he thought, conscious of how precious every second was. Who knew when Snape would choose to detonate the bombs? The Death Eaters had probably changed their plans after finding him and Ginny anyway, he knew how careful his father was.

He couldn't take the silence any more.

"Look, Ginny, I'm …"

"There's not need to apologise Malfoy. You simply reminded me who you really are. You did me a favour." She said not even looking at him.

Before Draco could even begin to formulate an appropriate nasty response, the window opened and a rather bewildered looking Dumbledore peered out.

"Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy? Not the most conventional entrance to my study, but do come in. How can I help you?" He looked kindly at them.

"No time." Draco said simply. "Death Eaters put the school under a time stop last night. Weasley and I were left out of it, and saw them planting muggle bombs in each of the houserooms and in your study, sir. Professor Snape is, we believe, waiting down by the Forbidden Forest, ready to detonate them at this very moment."

Ginny nodded in affirmation, admiring how he managed to recount the whole incident in such a collected manner, in comparison with her poor attempt just a few minutes ago. She didn't miss the reversion to Weasley, and was irritated to feel a pang of unhappiness shoot through her heart.

Dumbledore took only seconds to absorb this information. He didn't even think twice as to whether they were telling the truth.

"I will go and deal with Professor Snape myself." His eyes unfocused for a moment before retuning back to their sharp stare. "If you would be so kind as to wait here for the staff to get here. I have just contacted them. I suggest evacuating the school back to the Quidditch pitches. I shall return as soon as I can." With that he disappeared.

Ginny, once again awed by Dumbledore's extraordinary magical powers, stared into the space he had just vacated.

She glanced at Draco, who was avoiding even looking at her.

In seconds, the door opened and teachers began filtering in. Unconsciously Ginny and Draco moved closer together for a bit of moral support. They received some interesting looks. Professor McGonagol was first to speak, looking formidable. It was clear she was a little suspicious of Draco.

"Professor Dumbledore called us here. He said you would explain to us what is happening." She addressed them both.

Draco repeated his account as he had to Dumbledore.

"Is this correct Miss Weasley?" McGonagol enquired.

Ginny nodded, "He suggests that the school should be evacuated immediately."

"I quite agree." She turned around to address the other members of staff, but before she could begin she was interrupted.

"Are we to evacuate the school on the word of two students? If the papers hear of this, it will undoubtedly cause a serious upheaval in the wizarding world. I shouldn't think parents will take to well to a Death Eater scare." It was Professor Vector who had spoken.

"I would think there would be greater 'upheaval' if the students were blown up Theodore. There is too great a risk to be concerned about Hogwarts publicity." McGonagol said sternly.

"Quite." It was Dumbledore speaking. Everyone jumped a little at hearing his voice. He hadn't been gone long.

"Besides, there is no longer any question as to what is true. Death Eaters have been in the castle last night, and everything Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley have said is correct. Professor Snape is, as we speak, being properly questioned in the ministry and Aurors are on their way. But for now, the school must be evacuated to allow them to try to remove these...bombs." He looked very grave.

"So, will Heads of Houses kindly escort your pupils out of the school and onto the Quidditch pitches. Would remaining members of staff please station yourselves in suitable positions to ensure that the students do not stray. And Frederick, will you please begin creating a large tent suitable to house and protect the whole school for an uncertain amount of time. I will come to assist as soon as I have everything else in order."

Teachers began filing out of the room, with a variety of concerned expressions on their faces.

"Mr Malfoy and Miss Weasley?" He said, acknowledging their presence for the first time. "I need you to give me a more full account of everything you know, even any minor details you think unimportant, and show us the exact location of the bomb in the Gryffindor tower."

A/N Sorry that wasn't very long. I know that not much happened, but I needed to get all that said before anything more exciting happens. Hope it wasn't too boring. I'll try to update soon, but haven't had much time recently. Well, review!


	9. An Uninvited Guest

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Harry Potter.

A/N Thanks for the reviews, once again. Didn't get as many for the last chapter, but I sort of expected that. This one should be a lot more eventful. I hope. Only three to go, this one included (supposedly - it's quite likely I'll change my mind about something). Anyway, where was I?

The Uninvited Guest

Draco and Ginny finally got back to the tent, to join the rest of the school. They'd just spent an hour showing Dumbledore and a few Aurors around the castle and explaining every last detail of what they knew about the bombs. So, naturally, by now, tempers were wearing thin. The Aurors seemed quite confident that they could remove the bombs, seeing as the Death Eaters hadn't actually expected anybody to know about them when they were put in place.

It was now simply a matter of waiting until they could all return to the school and contact their family to explain all the exciting gossip. Dumbledore had informed them of what had happened, but nobody was allowed to owl their family until everything was safe again.

From the outside, the tent looked like any other marquee, large and white, filling up about half of the Quidditch pitch. However, when Draco and Ginny were escorted in, by an Auror called Jake Snidley, they saw what looked almost like a ballroom, with wooden floors and ornamental bits around the ceiling, with chandeliers the size of football tables hanging down. It was quite impressive. Clearly some of the teachers had got bored. There were groups of students clustered in numerous arrangements of sofas and armchairs around small coffee tables. Food filled each table, just as plentiful as they would have been at the beginning of term feast. The house elves had clearly taken the move as an opportunity to go all out on the food. In the centre of the room was a larger table, piled high with board games and books.

Ginny looked over to see Ron, Harry and Hermione waiting over near the entrance on some beanbags. Hermione was poring over some books, while Harry and Ron leaned against the wall, munching on some rolls and drinking pumpkin juice. As soon as they saw her they beckoned her over, talking excitedly. Ginny wondered how much they'd been told about what had been going on. She suspected the whole school would have heard of her and Draco's experience, as Dumbledore usually did his best to keep the everyone informed.

Draco began to make his way over to a group of Slytherins in the far corner of the room, groaning quietly so that Ginny only just heard it, to see Pansy Parkinson jump up and run towards him.

Ginny was glad, on one level, to be out of the way of Draco. Things were still very tense and they hadn't spoken a word to each other since being in Dumbledore's office. She suspected that Dumbledore had not missed the obvious knife-edged atmosphere between them. However, she also realized that as he walked away across the crowds, it would truly be the end of any sort of friendly relationship between them.

She was about to go over to join her friends when the Auror spoke.

"Dumbledore wants you _both_ to remain near the door in case he wishes to speak to you again." He said, indicating to an empty few chairs next to the entrance, and left the way he had come.

Draco turned, rolled his eyes and sat down on one of the armchairs. He felt like he'd seen the man before, but couldn't quite place where from. Ginny had no choice but to sit down next to Draco. She reached forward to pick at some pieces of fruit from the table, thinking she ought to be hungry, but had lost all her appetite.

A few seconds later they were joined by Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"We heard all about it," Hermione began as soon as they were in hearing distance, "It must have been so frightening for you!"

"Especially being stuck with that git," Ron added, looking grumpy.

"Ron! Be a bit nicer." Hermione chastised. "After all, without his help, Ginny may well have been found by the Death Eaters."

"It's quite alright, Mudblood. I could win a wit contest with that bludger brain any day." Draco said maliciously.

"Don't speak to her like that Malfoy." Harry cut in, looking murderous, "If there weren't Aurors teaming around this place your head would be stuck upside down from one of those chandeliers by now."

"You always were one for your empty threats, Potter. You know as well as I do that I would have you dead on the floor long before you even had time to get you're wand out of your pocket."

"Why don't you just bugger off to your Death Eater pals and spare us the sight of your ugly face." Harry responded.

"If only I could. If you think I want to be stuck here with a Scarhead and Weasley scum, you are sorely mistaken." The others just glared at him. "You'd do better scurrying away to hide in the corner where you belong."

Ginny could only hold her patience for so long.

"Just stop it Malfoy." She said, glaring at him.

He turned to face her, losing his cool exterior calm.

"No, I will not." He replied childishly, "These are your bloody irritating friends and I am enjoying myself telling them just how worthless…"

"Stop being such a bastard and shut up! I'm sick of you and you're supposedly witty comments. I wish you would get over your pathetic childhood feuds and grow up."

"Yeah, and I wish I'd let those Death Eaters find you. We don't always get what we wish for do we." His mouth twisted into a smirk.

"You don't mean that. Without me, you would probably be splattered all over your own… poncy robes." The tension between them altered imperceptibly.

"Poncy robes! You can come up with something better than that can't you?"

"No. I'm crap at the pointless comebacks. They're quite low down on my list of things to spend hours perfecting." Her eyes flashed.

"I entirely disagree. Being witty is my pride and joy. It saves so much trouble when you can simply crush someone into the ground with a mere comment."

"Just like you Malfoy, any excuse to avoid physical combat."

"You prefer physical combat? Crikey, I wish I'd known that." He said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Would have been a great way to pass the hours…"

Ginny blushed furiously, "Eugh, and I'm glad you didn't. Stop twisting what I say. Not everything has a second meaning. At least not to me. And I don't like physical combat, I like to avoid arguments in the first place."

"You don't like physical combat? I wouldn't be so sure. You certainly seem to like …"

A small cough interrupted his sentence and both Ginny and Draco turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione staring incredulously at them. Ginny had almost forgotten they were there, and noticed Draco had an equally shocked expression on his face. Ron looked thunderstruck, Harry astonished and Hermione had a small smile on her face. Ginny managed to turn even redder than she was.

"Come on," Hermione said to Harry and Ron, "We're clearly interrupting something here." Ron turned to her, face the same colour as his hair about to speak.

"No, it's fine. Stay." Ginny said quickly, and desperately tried to change the subject. "I'm going to get a chessboard, anyone want to play?" She looked at them hopefully. Ron just glared at Draco even more angrily.

"Sure Gin," Hermione replied when there was silence from everyone else.

She hurried away to find a suitable board, getting two in case Harry and Ron decided they might want to play.

She was just sitting back down when a book flew past her head into Draco's outstretched hand.

"Show off." She muttered at him. He just gave her a sugary smile and settled back down in his chair to read. She rolled her eyes and began setting out the pieces on the board, which was balancing precariously on the small table.

Later

The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting around, doing not much. Harry and Ron purposefully ignored Draco, and played a few games of chess before finally submitting to do some work on Hermione's orders. Draco simply sat in his chair, occasionally shifting positing to stretch his legs or 'Accio' some schoolwork. He spoke to Ginny a few times, usually to give some know-it-all advice on why she should not have sent her chess piece there to be slaughtered by Hermione. Eventually Ginny lost her temper and suggested that he might as well take over seeing as he seemed to think he could do much better.

He duly did, and won, before going back to his book.

Supper came and went, much in the same manner as lunch had. Teachers milled around the room, Dumbledore came and went and the Slytherins came over to talk to Draco, who never stayed long to avoid being too close to Harry and the others.

At around ten o'clock in the evening Dumbledore returned and got everybody to stand up and clear out of the way, claiming it was bedtime. With a flick of his wand all the tables and chairs vanished, to be replaced by hundreds of thick bottomed sleeping bags, covering up all the available floor space.

"Boys over on my left, girls on the right." He instructed, to be responded to with a few disappointed groans.

The students began shuffling across to opposite ends of the room. Ron and Harry waved goodbye to Ginny and Hermione, while Draco picked up his books from the floor (he hadn't been bothered to remove them from the chair when Dumbledore had asked them to).

Just as he was on his way off, the Auror who had escorted Ginny and Draco from the castle, entered the tent and beckoned to Dumbledore.

He stood just behind Draco, who just caught the hurried whisper escaping his lips to Dumbledore,

"Lord Voldemort is in the castle, sir."

Draco froze, wondering what Dumbledore would do.

"Good night children, and do not leave the tent tonight." He simply said and flicked his wand, which dimmed the lights, and swept out of the room.

He watched through the crack in the door as Dumbledore began the journey back up to the castle, bringing with him at least half of the Aurors who had been guarding the tent, and a feeling of great uneasiness crept over him. He still could not identify how he knew that Auror. At one of his dad's meetings? _Unlikely_, he thought.

Ginny and Hermione, oblivious to what had been going on settled down next to the wall, and blocked out Professor McGonagal's occasional mutterings of "do be quiet, people are trying to sleep in here".

About ten minutes passed, and Ginny suspected many people had fallen asleep. She could hear Hermione's gentle breathing and looked to her left where moonlight cast long shadows across the sleeping people.

She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a soft 'mew' coming from just outside. The walls were clearly not very thick. Just when she was about to dismiss it as her imagination it came again,

"Mieeoww."

_Crookshanks, _she realized suddenly. He was outside and obviously wanted to come in.

She looked around, to see that Professor Flitwick, who was sitting in the chair next to the door, had fallen asleep. None of the other teachers were paying any attention, so she silently got up and crept the few feet to the door.

Luckily, it was a crack open, so she slipped out, expecting to see Crookshanks waiting patiently to come in.

Draco

Draco was wide awake. He never normally went to bed before midnight, so contended himself with simply looking out over the room, watching as the teachers dozed off in their chairs.

His feeling of unease grew as time passed. Surely they'd have heard something by now if Voldemort really was in the castle? He was just considering waking Harry, the only person he could think of who'd be any help in this situation, when a flicker of movement caught his eye.

He groaned inwardly. It was Ginny, heading out of the door.

With no other choice, he got up, and with well-practiced stealth picked his way over all the sleeping people and followed her out.

That was when he remembered how he had known that Auror. He was a friend of his fathers. A Death Eater.

Ginny

The first thing Ginny noticed as she crept out into the cool night air was the lack of Aurors waiting outside the door as they had been all day. This confused her. There had been at least twenty of them earlier, standing guard of all the pupils.

A shiver ran down her spine, and just as she was about to turn back inside to tell one of the teachers when she was interrupted.

There was Crookshanks, green eyes glowing wide, standing with his hair on end hissing at something just behind her.

She turned slowly, now utterly terrified, to see the white face and red eyes of Lord Voldemort.

That was when she saw all the bodies. Hidden in the shadows of the tent, were at least ten ugly, sprawled, dark shapes.

She screamed, as loud as she could.

Her scream was cut off after a millisecond as something cold clamped around her throat, and squeezed.

Lord Voldemort smiled, at least what looked like as much of a smile as his crooked face could master, with his arm outstretched only a foot from her, his hand curled around thin air.

Panic flooded through her as she tried to breathe, struggling at the invisible clamp around her neck and was lifted off the ground as Voldemort raised his arm.

He turned, holding a helpless Ginny just off the ground behind him, and with an almost imperceptible move of his arm, flung open the door to the tent, which banged loudly against the wall. Ginny began to cough, seeing black spots dancing in front of her eyes.

"Where is Harry Potter?" He hissed at the sea of white faces, terror filling each one as their eyes comprehended the scene before them.

A/N Phew, that was long (for me anyway). I hope you liked that one. I enjoyed writing it anyway. Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger. But please, please review! I want to know if you liked it, and even if you didn't. Lets me know that it's worth carrying on.


	10. The Final Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

A/N Sorry it's taken so long, and thank you once again to those who have reviewed. I now have a battle scene to write. I'm not that great at these, but I'll do my best!

The Final Fight

Draco

Draco stood in the shadows of the tent, watching with horrified fascination as Voldemort addressed the school. Feeling slightly sick, standing amongst the bodies of various Aurors, he heard Voldemort say "Where is Harry Potter?"

Ginny's struggling had become less frantic, and she simply clutched at her neck, her legs falling still. It was tearing him apart. Draco realized that he had to act now, there was no time to think up a good plan.

As he moved out to stand directly behind Voldemort he saw Harry stand up, showing no sign of nervousness, his chin held high looking calm and alert. His eyes flicked to Draco, but showed no recognition on his face.

Draco took a silent deep breath, wand held outwards. Dredging up one of many deep engrained spells from his memory, he muttered under his breath "_Parantis estio_", and felt a burst of cold shoot through his arm as it always did when he performed a dark magic spell.

Taken off his guard, Voldemort twisted round, his red eyes wide, as the curse hit him. Suddenly, he froze in place, the curse suspending any motion, and Ginny fell to the ground at his feet, sucking in the air and trying to crawl away at the same time.

He knew the spell wouldn't last long, Voldemort was simply too strong and would easily overcome it, but it allowed everyone to spring into action. The teachers, now wide awake, ran forward, as did a few of the students.

Draco didn't stop to watch, but bent down to where Ginny lay, and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks" she croaked, a half-smile flitting across her face. Her eyes were still dilated in fear, looking curiously up at his.

He returned the smile reassuringly, not relinquishing his hold around her waist, but it soon faltered as he saw tens of Death Eaters storming into the tent from behind her.

Ginny spun around in his arms, snatching her wand out of her pocket at the same moment as he raised his wand arm up.

The whole room seemed to collectively gasp, the atmosphere changed and the battle began. The Death Eaters, clad in all black, with black hoods and masks filtered out across the room, pushing the majority of the school to the back of the tent and surrounding them. Curses were flying everywhere, spinning off the walls from all angles. The teachers were trying in vain to provide a barricade between the students and the Death Eaters. Screams ran out across the hall, everyone wondering where Dumbledore and the Aurors had got to, and knowing that they were fighting a losing battle without the help.

Harry immediately had taken place to fight Voldemort, who had finally broken out of his curse, angrier than ever.

Ginny

Draco and Ginny were in the thick of the battle, fighting off different Death Eaters which came their way. Ginny was so glad that she'd been in the DA and was amazed how many curses had actually lodged their way into her memory. At the moment she was fighting a particularly tall Death Eater, who was firing off curses at her continually, and she had somehow been dodging and blocking them all, but she knew she was tiring. None of the curses she sent were reaching the Death Eater either.

Finally she decided to take a different approach. She tucked her wand back into her pocket and ran straight at the Death Eater, taking him by surprise. Pulling her leg back she kicked him hard in the knees, sending him roughly to the floor. Then she pulled out her wand and sent ropes spinning around him like a cocoon.

Satisfied, she turned back around to help Draco, who was backed against a wall by a fast, wiry attacker. She shot a stunning spell at him from behind and he thudded to the ground. Draco shot her a brief look of gratitiude and moved back out into the middle of the hall to begin another battle.

Looking out across the room she saw many still bodies, mostly those of students, and a few Death Eaters. She hoped and prayed that none were actually dead. She knew that time was running short. Ginny turned to fight a woman Death Eater with long brown hair spilling out from her hood, praying that somebody would come to help them soon.

Suddenly there was an almighty crash, followed by yells of pain. Ginny felt something slice through her robe as if it was water and felt a sting of pain. Spinning around she saw that one of the enormous chandeliers had crashed onto the ground, which had sent shards of glass shooting out across the room.

This provided the perfect distraction, allowing her to stun the woman, who she suspected was Bellatrix Lestrange.

Looking down she saw streams of blood which had trickled down her arm from to glass wound. She knew it would leave a scar without treatment. _No chance of that though _she realized. She looked up and saw Madam Pomfrey, who was seated in the corner of the room, attending to a few injured students looking utterly defeated but determined to continue on. Wiping her hand on her rope, and ignoring the pain, she collected herself and found a new target.

Draco

Draco, in the midst of the battle, had finally begun to accept that they had lost. There were simply too many Death Eaters to fight and the students and teachers were no match for them. He was scanning the room, when his eyes fell on Ron, whose legs were rooted to the spot by the _Petfificus _curse, his arms snapped to his sides.

The Death Eater facing him had his wand held against Ron's chest. Draco quickly used _Wingardium Leviosa_ to fling a heavy bronze torch holder at the attacker's head, who fell to the ground with a release of breath. He ran over to Ron, saying,

"_Finite Incantatum_." Ron's arms and legs sprang back out.

He gave Draco a steady look, which turned into a brief smile,

"Thanks mate." He said.

Draco looked down at the Death Eater crumpled on the ground and saw, with a flash of shock, a few strands of silvery blond hair escaping from under the black head covering. He just stared for a minute, watching his fathers chest rising up and down steadily and a growing pool of blood around his head. The irony of it took a moment to settle in, and shutting out the pain which built in his chest, he let ropes wind around the body from his wand and Draco pried his eyes away.

Ron nodded at him in understanding and looked as if he was about to say something when a bright flash of light lit the room with blinding intensity.

Draco shielded his eyes for a moment and as the light faded he saw that a silver cage had been cast around himself and the remaining large mass of students. They were all trapped. Any Death Eaters still inside simply walked straight through the bars as if they were ghosts, and they all collected in a crowd surrounding the caged school. Lord Voldemort stood at the front of them, surveying the pitiful sight with dancing eyes.

They were defeated. He saw Harry lunge at the bars, knocking into them with his shoulder with huge force. Hermione went over to him and gently pulled him away, tears streaming down her face. A high laugh was emitted from the other side of the bars.

Draco wondered what would happen to them all now. Would Voldemort slaughter them all? Or perhaps use them as a bargaining tool. The Death Eaters who were unconscious were being _enervated _and unbound. He turned away with a bitter taste in his mouth. He saw Ginny slumped dejectedly against the back wall, unconsciously clutching at her arm. Draco wearily began to make his way over there to comfort her. He had no idea how. He knew as well as everyone else that there was no hope for them now.

He was wrong however.

It all happened in a couple of seconds. The entrance door was filled with the tall form of Dumbledore looking dangerous and glaring furiously out across the hall. His presence introduced a shift in the tension of the room. Aurors flanked behind him. Relief rolled out across the prisoners, and a mild fear was placed across the group of Death Eaters.

Lord Voldemort spun around to face Dumbledore.

In the same wand motion, the Death Eaters were flung against a side wall, wands hurtled across to the other side and huge metal barriers magically bolted across the front of them. The bars holding the students and teachers in place vanished.

Harry, standing directly behind Lord Voldemort took a wand from the ground and said, in a strong loud voice,

"_Adava Kedavra"_

In seemingly slow motion, a jet of green light hit Voldemort, who crumpled to the ground. The Death Eaters watched in helpless astonishment.

For a moment the room was silent, nobody quite sure they had seen correctly. Uncertain whispers were shared. Then a huge cheer burst out across the room as they all realized that Lord Voldemort was finally dead.

A/N That was definitely the hardest chapter to write. I hope it wasn't too gory or anything, I don't like writing battle scenes. Only a brief epilogue to go. If anybody can recommend any Draco/Ginny stories they like, please do. And, of course, review!


	11. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.

Epilogue

The room around them was in shambles. Tables and chairs were upturned. Shards of glass from the chandelier lay scattered over the floor. Looking down, Draco saw the head of a King chess piece lying at his feet. Despite the number of people injured, the mood in the room was high. Somebody had conjured up a case of champagne, and was passing the bottles round the room; the teachers had turned a blind eye.

Only Madam Pomfrey appeared serious, attending to the injured, and enervating the stunned. Dumbledore stood near the door, having already apparated all the Death Eaters and the body of Voldemort to the ministry. They had already confirmed that everyone was alive, and the most serious injuries had been cared for. Nobody else even noticed their cuts and bruises in the excitement.

Eventually Dumbledore magically raised his voice to quieten the rowdy lot.

"Hush now. There are a few things I would like to say to you all. Please take a seat."

For a moment everyone looked around the room in confusion, deciding that Dumbledore must have finally cracked. Seconds later, however, with a wave of his arm, all the mess was cleared up and in its place were hundreds of small, cushioned chairs. Rather reluctantly, the students sat down to listen to what he had to say and the room fell silent.

"First of all, I am pleased to say that all the bombs in the school have been removed, so you will all be able to return to your studies." A loud groan crossed the hall, no-one in any mood to work. Dumbledore smiled wider, "That is _after _a week's holiday." Everybody cheered.

"I am sure that you're families will want to hear all of the details of these last events, so I have lifted the apparition wards on the school for today, to allow you all to return home with your parents." Conversations broke out quietly across the hall.

"One last thing I wish to say before you all go, is simply to thank Miss Ginny Weasley and Mr Draco Malfoy, without whom the school would be a pile of ashes." The room fell silent once again. Draco looked over at Ginny, in the row in front of him. "For their efforts and bravery, I am awarding the houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor 100 points each, and their names will be written on the cup for 'services to the school.' So, have an enjoyable week, and try not to drink too much alcohol." He smiled, his eyes twinkling, at George Harris, who at that moment was taking a large swig out of a bottle of champagne.

If possible, noise levels in the room became even louder and people began to leave the room.

Ginny found herself standing next to Ron, Harry and Hermione, who were talking animatedly about what they were going to do this holiday.

"Harry, you can definitely stay with us this week, I know mum won't mind. After all, you did just kill the darkest wizard of all time…" Ron was saying with a grin. Harry, smiled, looking a bit shell shocked, as if he wasn't sure what had just happened.

"That was so cool, when you hit him with the _Agrialis _curse," Hermione said, "I've never actually seen it in action, only read about it, and I'm so glad to know that you do actually pay attention in lessons." Harry grinned and gave her a light punch on the arm.

For some reason, Ginny didn't feel she could share in their excitement. She always felt slightly left out from their close-knit trio, and knew it would be like this for the rest of the week. She couldn't help her mind wandering to Draco, who (she cast a furtive look in his direction) was immersed in conversation with Blaise and Pansy, neither of whom looked terribly happy. Undoubtably their fathers had just been taken back to the ministry. She wondered if she would ever talk to him again. They were in such separate worlds, and he now had his other friends to keep him company – if you could call the likes of Crabbe and Goyle friends.

Next to Ginny, Elizabeth and Parvati were engrossed in conversation, from the sound of it to do with Draco Malfoy being available now that he was '_good'._

Feeling overwhelmed, she decided to go and stand outside the tent to wait for her parents to arrive.

Breathing in the cool air outside the tent she let herself relax a little from all the excitement, noticing now the sticky, drying blood on her hand. She wanted her mum to arrive soon so that she could go and have a shower.

"Not joining in the celebrations Ginny?" came a familiar drawl from behind her.

"Mmm, I'm just trying to get my mind round it all. All the noise in there is doing my head in." She gave him a weak smile.

"I know how you feel." He added. He was standing quite close to her now, looking down with his clear gray eyes. "We can celebrate here instead." He said, and reached into his cloak to pull out a bottle of Butterbeer that they had taken from the kitchens the day before. "_Removro" _he muttered, and the metal cap popped off.

Ginny smiled, accepting his offer of the bottle, and she took a swig. Her mind was in turmoil. They were round the side of the tent, and Ginny could see some of the students milling around the entrance, hugging their parents and jumping around in happy prospect of a week's holiday.

"I was impressed by you're dueling skills." Draco said conversationally.

"Yes, thanks to the DA. You didn't do too badly yourself." Ginny replied.

"DA?" Ginny had forgotten that he wouldn't know about it.

"Oh, Harry created a sort of extra Defense Against the Dark Arts class out of school. He took the lessons. It was called Dumbledore's Army." She clarified.

"Ah, Potter, the hero." Draco said, slightly bitterly.

Ginny raised her eyes to his. "You're not far behind. Anyway, I'd hate to be famous like Harry. Too may nasty reporters." Ginny said, thinking of Rita Skeeter.

"Yes, and the awful 'girls falling at your feet.' It would be quite tiresome. I myself know something of it." His mouth curled into a half smile, his bright hair framing his face.

Ginny snorted and brushed a wayward red curl from in front of her eyes. "I'm surprised you'd consider that a problem, Mr I'm-too-arrogant-for-my-own-good."

Draco feigned looking hurt. "Arrogance is a virtue."

"Somebody got their nursery rhymes wrong." Ginny laughed.

They lapsed into a companiable silence standing next to the wall of the tent. From where they stood they could they could see all the water rippling out on the lake, and the trees whispering in the gentle breeze. Faints shouts of delight could be heard as students said goodbye to one another and discussed holiday plans.

"Just me and my mother now." Draco said vaguely.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise that he'd brought up what was potentially a difficult conversation.

"I'm sorry." She said, and meant it.

"Don't be. It's not like father and I were ever close." He gave a wry smile. "On the bright side, I now don't need creep around to play with the swords and Dark Arts instruments."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "What a fun week you can have. I'm so jealous."

Draco smiled. "You can visit me if you like." He said it lightly, but looked at her with serious eyes.

Ginny stepped a bit closer to Draco, they were almost touching now. "Not if we have to see the torture instruments, I think I could do without."

Draco's mouth tugged into a smile, "We could work something out. So, is that a yes?"

"I'm not sure what my parents'll think, but after what you've done, I'm sure we could come to some sort of agreement."

Draco bent his head lower so that their lips were almost touching.

"Ginny Weasley! What do you think you are doing?" A sharp voice cut out through the air.

Draco and Ginny leapt apart in fright. Draco's back hit the wall of tent, but unlike the inside, the walls were soft like a marquee's and he lost his balance as the material gave way. Ginny reached forward to stop him falling, but in the end was pulled into the wall also. There was a slight ripping sound and that part of the fabric broke away, leaving Draco and Ginny in a sprawled heap on the ground.

After a moment's stunned silence, Ginny burst into laughter leaning half on top of Draco and surrounded by white material. Draco laughed also, attempting to get up.

Eventually they scrambled to their feet and Ginny turned to face Mrs Weasley, who was standing, red in the face, in front of them. Mr Weasley looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, at risk from being pummeled to death by his wife. Narcissa Malfoy was walking over also, looking confused.

"Um…hello mum." Ginny began.

"This is Mr Malfoy I take it." She said.

"Nice to meet you Mrs Weasley." He said, offering his hand. Mrs Weasley looked at it warily. Mr Weasley took it.

"I've heard about what you've done for my daughter. We're very grateful." He said awkwardly.

"It was the least I could do." Draco said, charming and flashing them an easy smile.

"Hmm, yes. We'd best be off I think. Harry and Ron are just getting their things. Ginny, have you got everything?"

"It's just in the castle, I'll get it."

She turned to go with the Weasley parents, and Draco began to move over to greet his mother.

"Ginny, about what I said…" Draco began.

"I'll owl you." She smiled at him, her eyes dancing with laughter.

A/N So, that's it! It hope it lived up to expectations, and not _too _fluffy. I don't think there'll be a sequel, I have sort of ended it. I'd really like you to review to let me know what you thought, including those that have read it but not reviewed yet. Please do! And once again could you recommend good DG stories, I never know where to start reading otherwise. Thanks to everybody!


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